Today’s Meditation

A New Calling

From The Upper Room

The World’s Most Widely Read Daily Devotional Guide

Read Philippians 2:12-18

Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

- Philippians 2:12 (NRSV)

Shortly after celebrating my 75th birthday, I sensed a calling from God to become involved in an ecumenical prison ministry called Kairos. With significant reluctance — but with prayer — I eventually responded to the prodding of God’s Spirit and am now involved in ministry with three different correctional facilities.

What a remarkable learning experience this has proved to be — beginning with the fact that God’s timing (kairos in Greek) is so very different from the time kept by the watch I wear on my wrist (chronos). While I have tried to serve God throughout my life, what a joy it is to know that we can be useful and usable at any age!

Paul’s instructions in Philippians 2:12 apply to each of us individually. For me that means continuing to listen for and to obey God’s call on my time and resources.

As a follower of Jesus I pray that all of us will find our calling from God. The list provided in Matthew 25 — feeding the hungry and thirsty, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, visiting the sick or imprisoned, or befriending the lonely — is a good place to start.